Passage of Time
by CatsbytheGreat
Summary: A Time Lord, his life, and those that surround him.
1. Doctor Who?

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. **

**Author's Note: This is basically going to be a series of vignettes based on the new series. Some are short, some are longer, and as of now, some are AU, but those don't come until much later. Enjoy!**

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**"Who are you?"

"I'm the Doctor."

"That's not a real name. Doctor of what?"

He sighs; this happens _every_ time. He mutters, "Doctor of the universe," under his breath.

"I'm sorry, Doctor who?"

A small smile curves his lips. "Just the Doctor, thank you."

He receives a look of barely controlled disbelief but ignores it. This human will learn soon enough, just like the others.


	2. Fantastic

**Disclaimer: I don't own the characters. **

**Author's Note: The next few are going to be Rose-centric. Certainly, the ones posted today will be. I hope you enjoy them!**

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She stares at him and he gives her a small smile. She smiles back and returns, blushing, to look at a screen on the TARDIS that she wasn't really paying attention to in the first place.

Her name is running over and over in his mind like some sort of song. _Rose Tyler. Rose, Rose, Rose…_ He can't stop thinking about her and her nice smile isn't helping much, either. He wonders why he ever allowed her to come with him.

_Because you need someone, that's why. _

There is something special about her. He knows she doesn't see it, but he wants her to.

"Rose Tyler," he says, drawing out her name.

She looks up, startled.

"Rose Tyler," he continues, "have I ever told you how fantastic you are?"

Rose grins and a light chuckle escapes her. "No, but I'm getting the feeling you're about to…"

He grins, mirroring her. "You are fantastic."

She looks away and he hopes she takes this to heart.


	3. No One Dies

**Disclaimer: See parts one and two. Also, Rose's line is from 'The Parting of Ways'.  
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**Author's Note: Enjoy!  
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**Everything fascinates the Doctor. Even when things are almost horrifying, they pique his curiosity. He can't help it. He was made that way.

Even now, as Rose Tyler stands before him with her eyes glowing, the whole of a time vortex swirling like a storm through her head, killing her slowly, he is fascinated. He had never seen anything like this before.

Rose Tyler has always had the ability to surprise him.

She is like a Time Lord now. The Doctor knows she cannot stay this way, yet when he looks into her eyes and sees his own thoughts reflected back he has never felt less alone.

She says, "My head is killing me."

A tear falls.

He almost regrets to see it end, to return her to normal because she will never be more like him than she is now.

He does it anyway, absorbs the energy. He realizes it's because he loves her as Rose Tyler and he can't have her any other way. Better Rose Tyler than dead, he thinks.

But now he's going to die.

Not die, regenerate.

_Rose won't like this_, he thinks. But she stirs and she's so alive and he knows that her life is the most important thing.

As long as Rose Tyler is alive, the Doctor will be happy.


	4. Defender of Earth

**Special Disclaimer: Italicized quotes are from 'The Christmas Invasion' and 'Doomsday', respectively. Also, see Chapter 1 for regular disclaimer. **

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**Rose is the defender of the Earth. She is thankful for Torchwood. It allows her to keep busy, to feel useful because she needs to feel needed.

Torchwood reminds her of what she could be doing. Instead of running headlong into danger ("_Trouble's just the bits in-between," he says_), they wait for it.

She wishes they had a TARDIS.

Rose wonders what the Doctor is doing. Is he alone? She is afraid that he is so alone.

Or perhaps _she_ is alone. But Torchwood will give her a way out. Even now she is planning on finding her Doctor. ("_I made my choice a long time ago…"_)

She is determined. _Would your Doctor want that?_

Rose pushes the thought away. It is a question she's heard too many times and she has always resented it. The Doctor is not here this time, so she ignores it.

She will find him. She _needs_ him.


	5. So Alive

**Disclaimer: Same as always. Don't own the characters. **

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**The Doctor knows he can spend a great long time being sad, but he said it himself to Donna just a few hours before. Rose Tyler is so _alive_.

He is alone again but this time he feels a bit less sad and a bit more…thankful. Alive, all of them. Rose and Donna, Mickey, Rose's mum, Pete. All so very alive.

The Doctor smiles. It's about time he felt alive, too.

For the moment he allows his TARDIS to take him where it will. Donna told him to find someone, but that isn't always how it works.

They find him.

The Doctor sets the TARDIS in motion, leaving the past behind as he prepares to start over again.


	6. Fears

**Author's Note: I'm going to post a new chapter to my other Doctor Who story sometime this week. I've just gotten distracted with school work and other work and even some other story ideas. There's also some new one-shots coming for Doctor Who and Star Wars. Anyway, I hope you enjoy these next two chapters I'm posting tonight! **

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Rose is terrified of Daleks.

She remembers the first time she saw one, in chains and broken. She touched it and it came to life. She freed it. Now she's tied to them, somehow. They keep coming back and they never kill her. They always seem to need her.

She knows they're horrible and they kill without thought or feeling. She hates that. She can't help but feel. She even felt for the Daleks the first time she saw one. Perhaps…she thought she could help them.

The Doctor says they're beyond help, but she can see how even he, at times, attempts to connect with them, break through the metal skin to the soft interior.

They don't have any of it. They always come back, always kill.

And the Doctor always fights them and Rose is always right by his side.

The Daleks may terrify her, but she is not one to let her fears get in the way of her life.


	7. Blame

"When are you coming home?"

A simple question put forth by a concerned parent. Rose stares at her mother with no idea how to answer.

"I…" She bites her lip. "I don't think I'm coming home."

"Of course not," Jackie says, turning away. Rose grabs her mother's arm, apology written clear across her face.

But not regret. Never regret.

"I just…I love traveling with him. It's the life I've always wanted. I get to do things that I would never do here and, to be honest, I don't think I could just come back home and live a normal life." She's breathless, but not quite done. "It's not your fault, mum. It really isn't."

"No, I suppose not." Jackie's eyes narrow. "It's _his_."

Rose sighs. She hates this part. "It isn't his fault. He's asked me several times if I want to stop traveling. It's my decision."

"You sacrifice a lot for him, Rose."

"He doesn't have anyone!" The words come out before Rose realizes what she's saying. "I can't just leave him alone!"

"And what about me, Rose?" Jackie insists. "What happens to me when you leave me alone? I'm your mother!"

"I-I—he's been alone for so long…"

"He has a long life," Jackie interrupts. "I don't."

"Mum." Rose sighs. She knows, she _knows_ what she's doing is a bit selfish, but she can't help it. "The Doctor…it's just him, you know? He's fascinating and I've never been so happy…"

"What happens when you get hurt, then? He's already put you through a lot."

Rose is calm. "It won't be his fault."

"Who's will it be, then? Because no one else can make you see the things you've seen, or feel the things you've felt."

Rose stares at her mother and snaps, "It'll be mine, mum. _My_ fault."

Then she walks away to rejoin the Doctor, leaving behind a stunned and lonely woman.


	8. Noble

"You know something, Donna?"

The red haired woman currently sitting next to the Doctor as the TARDIS travels once again through time and space looks up, a bit surprised that he's decided to break silence. Not because he doesn't talk, because he talks enough for the both of them, but more because they aren't entirely comfortable with each other yet. The Doctor doesn't know too much about Donna, and Donna has no idea how to be a companion to a Time Lord.

"What?" she asks.

"I like your last name," he says. Then he speaks it, drawing out the syllables on his tongue as though savoring it. "_Noble_."

Donna laughs. "I never thought of it that way."

"No, really," he continues, excitement lighting up his eyes. "It's a great last name! 'Noble'. That means a lot. That implies, Miss Donna Noble, that you are meant for great things. Noble things. You're going to be a great woman."

"I'm not already?" Donna asks, but she is teasing him. He rolls his eyes.

"You are, but you've got potential." He frowns. "With a name like Noble how could you not be? That's quite a burden." He brightens again upon looking at her. "I know you're up to it, though. You managed to find me, after all. And anyone brave enough to come with me, even when I do terrify them, as you told me that one time, is a great person indeed."

Donna feels bolstered by this. She had felt, before, that the Doctor's previous companions would overshadow her. Perhaps they would hang over her head and he would always compare her to them. But now…he seems genuinely happy to have her here.

"Yes," he murmurs, "coming with me is a noble cause, isn't it?"

Donna hits him on the shoulder and he laughs.

But she has to wonder if her name really does mean anything. Or is it just that, a name?


End file.
